Norway - Myrdal to Flam - We take the iconic Flamsbana train and hike the 25km back - top day out

Flam railway, Myrdal, Norway

The Flam railway is described as one of the top ten train journeys in the world, and is one of the leading tourist attractions in Norway. The train runs 20km from Flam, at the end of Aurlandsfjord, a tributary of the Sognefjord, up to the high mountains at Myrdal station, taking an hour to climb 867m. From Myrdal trains can be caught to Oslo and Bergen. We planned to catch the train one way to Myrdal, and walk back to Flam. The train passes spectacular waterfalls-one with an apparition, valleys, and forests.

We had booked our train tickets on line the previous week, aware that when cruise ships are in port, the train can be very busy. Our train left Flam at 9.30am, in hindsight we should have sat on the right-hand side of the carriage to get the best views (going forward) At 10.15am the train stopped for 5 minutes at a magnificent waterfall, with a specially built viewing platform, where we all descended. If you look closely through the spray, a singing lady may be seen!! Then, after 5 minutes the whistle blew for everyone to be re-board.

The train continues going very steeply uphill through tunnels, and arrived in Myrdal Station at 10.25am (cafe and free toilets). Our walk began at the back of station turning right over the tracks. (10.45am). The path down is wide, built for both walkers and cyclists, in parts very steep. At a junction we turned right passing the zipline, and called into Hotel Vatnahalsen for a coffee. This is a beautiful hotel, well worth a detour, and maybe a stay another time. We returned to the path junction at 11.45am. The path hairpins down, with a huge waterfall on one side. We crossed the Rallarvegen bridge at 12.10pm, the route having become a lot flatter (2.8 miles).

We reached the bottom of the zipline at 12.30pm, buying a coffee, from a small cafe. There are lots of bikes to hire, but we continued with our walk. At 1.05pm we reached an exciting tunnel with lights in, stopping a while later at a picnic bench to eat our lunch (1.45pm 5.5 miles walked).

We reached Blomheller Station, meeting a party of about 50 people who had walked from our train to here, they were catching the train back to Flam. We continued, there are a few fabulous engineering feats to study, one being the river being diverted through a tunnel to enable the train to be built. We crossed the bridge over the very lively river, 9.5 miles, 4.5 hours.

After 10 miles, we were on the flat valley floor, with a very spectacular waterfall on the left, which can be seen all the way down the valley. After 14.5 miles of walking, we arrived back in Flam, where we visited the train very interesting free train museum.

This has to be one of our favourite walks-yes another. The scenery was amazing, with many glacial features, waterfalls and superb scenery all around.

Distance 15 miles (24km)

Time Taken 6.15 hours

Average pace 25 minutes a mile

Total ascent 109m

Information

When boarding the train, the better views are from the right-hand side of the train, so sit on that side. On the train is a very interesting commentary on the trip in English, and information screens in each carriage too.

Most people on the train just did a return trip. If you sit in the middle carriages, the waterfall can be seen without needing to alight. All passengers travelling on a one-way ticket like ourselves, were assigned seats in the last carriage, so we had to leave the train to see the waterfall.

I would really recommend this trip. We found it a fairly easy walk, mostly downhill, so we really could take our time. The only ascent was up to Hotel Vatnahalsen for a coffee. We did not meet anyone else who walked down to Flam, making it a lovely quiet track, except for the occasional cyclist.

Alternatively: -

1 You could catch the train up, then walk down to any station, then wait for a train. 2 A very daring trip would be to catch the zipline down 1381m in 1.5 minutes, one of the fastest in Europe. This would be weather dependant. There were a few younger people doing this, then either hire a bike, or walk down.

3 Or hire a bike in Myrdal, and cycle all the way down, but the first section is extremally steep, with few barriers on the bends, between the track and a waterfall!!

4 Or walk up to Myrdal, stay over at Hotel Vatnahalsen and take any option down.

The Flam Railway is one of the steepest standard gauge railway lines in the world, with 80% of the journey running on a gradient of 5.5%. The train runs through spectacular scenery, alongside the Rallar Road, vertiginous mountainsides, foaming waterfalls, through 20 tunnels, and offers so many viewpoints that, for many people, a single trip up and down is not enough. It is called the “Twenty Line” took 20 years to built from 1924 to 1944, is 20km long, and had 20 tunnels.

Websites used

https://www.norwaytrains.com/flamsban... https://flamtravelguide.com/flam-zipl... www.booking.com Hotel Vatnahalsen